


do more

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Het, Oh so very AU, Rare Pair, nebulous description of death of unnamed character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 17:27:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10667373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: When Joe returns to STAR Labs, the medbay looks like something out of a horror movie.





	do more

**Author's Note:**

> Theme: entropy   
> Prompt: The Flash, Joe West/Caitlin Snow, messy rooms

When Joe returns to STAR Labs, the medbay looks like a scene from a horror movie. Which, he knows, is entirely apt, considering what went down here a few short hours ago. The machines are all pushed out of their usual positions, one tilted at a very precarious angle, all of them with various wires dangling where they wouldn't usually be dangling. Medical instruments are scattered on various surfaces, some are on the floor, lying tangled with bits of bloody gauze and bandages. 

It looks like someone's fought death here, but there's no clear way to ascertain the victor. 

Or at least there wouldn't be, were it not for the single occupant of the messy room. 

Caitlin stands at the empty bed with her back to the door, her hands balled up in fists and braced on the bed, tension holding her shoulders taut, save for the barely perceptible trembling that tells Joe she's crying. 

He just about bites back a sigh - he hates to see her cry. 

"Hey." He says the word still standing at the door, waiting to see her reaction. When she doesn't turn, just straightens up and lifts her hands to her face, he takes the hint, stays where he is too. 

"Hey." Her voice is high, brittle. "You get everything done?" 

He nods even though she can't see him. "My report is filed, Singh knows all the details I can't put down on paper. He told me to go home, he's not gonna look for me until morning." Not for the first time in his career, especially his recent career, he blesses the fact that his ex-partner is now his captain. "I thought you might want to get out of here." Because Barry had told him that she hadn't left, even though everyone else had tried to make her, and because they all knew that Caitlin, more than anyone, needed to get out of here. 

"And leave all this?" She turns then, gestures around the room with a sweep of her arm. She's not being humorous either, he can tell at once. "I need to clean up..."

He shakes his head, takes a step towards her. "Sweetheart, it'll still be here tomorrow..."

"Exactly." No-one has looked at him with that degree of "Well duh" since Iris was a teenager. He suddenly finds himself wishing for the days of homework assignments and boy trouble: those at least he could somewhat handle. "I don't want them to walk in here tomorrow and see..." She stops talking, swallows hard, her pale cheeks flushing pink. 

And just like that, he knows what she was going to say, or close to it. Something about how she'd failed, how she should have been able to do something, do anything, do more. 

"Caitlin, there was nothing you could have done-"

She cuts him off and her next words prove his suspicions. "I could have done my job." She's scathing, vicious even, but he knows her anger's not directed at him. Rather, it's directed at herself; he just happens to be standing in front of her. "I should have been able to..." The words seem to choke her and she claps her hand over her lips as her eyes fill with tears. 

There is no power in this world that would make him not take her into his arms when she looks like that, sounds like that, so that's exactly what he does. He pulls her close and she goes willingly, cries into his shoulder as he rocks her gently from side to side. "You did everything you could," he reminds her quietly when the worst of the storm has passed. 

"I know." That's whispered into his shoulder. "I just hate that it wasn't enough." 

He kisses the top of her head. "We all do." 

She sucks in a deep breath before she straightens up, gives him a watery smile. "I still need to clean up this mess," she says and it's almost apologetic in tone, like she's expecting him to argue with her. 

Instead, he nods once. "Where do we start?" 

Caitlin blinks, surprise stamping itself all over her face. "You don't have to-"

"I know." Joe takes her hand, squeezes it gently. "But you do. And you don't have to do it alone." 

Fresh tears shine in her eyes but her smile is the real thing. "Thank you," she whispers as she steps back into the circle of his arms and he holds her for as long as she needs before they start.


End file.
